101 Myths of the Bible: how ancient scribes - Conscious Evolution TV

278 101 Myths of the Bible
If David found favor in Saul’s sight, how could Saul not know whom he had just
sent out to fight with Goliath?
After David killed Goliath, the text says that he brought the head to Jerusalem, but
during Saul’s reign, Jerusalem was in the hands of the Jebusites. Jerusalem didn’t come
into Israelite hands, according to the Bible, until after David became king. This suggests
that in the original story David was already king when Goliath died.
Coincidentally, in the version crediting Elhanan with killing Goliath, David is
already king, and Elhanan is a member of David’s elite fighting group known as“The
Thirty.” The Elhanan version also retains some of the original mythical flavor of the
contest. It is one of a sequence of four short stories about individual members of“The
Thirty” killing four different giants. Interestingly, in the introductory verse to these
four stories about Elhanan and the others, we are told that “David waxed faint”—he
had grown tired.
Although Elhanan’s father is called Jaareoregim in the verses about Elhanan’s victory
over Goliath, the listing of the members of David’s“Thirty” calls the father Dodo.
Since the other three giant killers also belong to “The Thirty,” this is clearly the same
Elhanan. The connection between Elhanan and Dodo may have been the inspiration
for crediting David with Elhanan’s triumph. In Hebrew, the name Dodo is spelled
DWDW and David is spelled DWD. The two names are virtually identical and stem
from the same root, meaning “beloved.” Dodo and David are also both called Bethlehemites,
adding another reason why there may have been confusion over the killer’s
identity.
Another indication that the pro-David version of the story borrowed from the
Elhanan source comes from the contextual appearance of Goliath’s name. Throughout
the David story, the name Goliath only appears twice. The several other references
to this warrior simply describe him as “the Philistine” or “the Philistine of Gath.” The
manner in which Goliath’s name appears suggests that it was a later insert into the
story. For example, in 1 Samuel 17:23, the text reads,
And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of
Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to
the same words: and David heard them.